The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for sorting and packaging vegetables and fruit, such as, for instance, cucumbers, gherkins, and cauliflowers.
In particular, this invention relates to a method for characterizing, selecting, classifying, sorting, and packaging products, such as vegetables and fruits, comprising the successive steps of:
characterizing the products, such as determining their weight or their shape, whereby characteristics of each product are obtained which are automatically stored, and
selecting, classifying and sorting the products according to these characteristics, while products for pre-set classes are supplied as streams of products with a sorting apparatus to discharge conveyor tracks and/or packaging tracks intended for these classes.
Such a method and apparatus for carrying out this method are known, for instance from European patent EP 810963. It discloses how elongate products such as carrots are supplied to a sorting machine, are classified with the detection equipment present on this machine, and are subsequently supplied to discharge conveyor tracks. In most cases, this is followed by the path of packaging these products. As can be derived from that patent specification, this could be carried out after each discharge conveyor track.
Especially for the elongate products mentioned in this patent, such as carrots, but cucumbers in particular are to be considered here as well, packaging requires a special treatment. This is the case in particular when each product is to be packaged individually. To that end, often use is made of sealing machines, which wrap the respective products individually with plastic and subsequently close this wrapper with a heat seal. These machines are generally known to work best with a continuous product supply and also at a constant speed.
In the sorting machine as described above, this inevitably leads to logistic problems. Not only will the supply be irregular because of the ejection of products having deviant characteristics, but moreover, as a result of the characterization, called calibration in EP 810963, the supply streams over the different discharge conveyor tracks will regularly be discontinuous. With corresponding regularity, the sealing machines will be deprived of supply, and must then be switched off. The least negligence in this regard may lead to a defective sealing machine. Moreover, connecting several packaging tracks each to a sealing machine is very costly.
In order to obviate the above-mentioned disadvantages, the invention provides a method for packaging products, such as vegetables and fruits, utilizing a sorting machine, the method comprising the following steps:
determining per product the characteristics of the respective product, such as, for instance, determining their weight and/or their shape;
comparing the characteristics with predetermined packaging requirements;
on the basis of this comparison, selecting products that do not need to be packaged;
supplying the other, non-selected products to a packaging unit, the packaging unit being energized only when there is a substantially uninterrupted in-feed of the products into the packaging unit.
More particularly, the method according to the invention comprises:
comparing the characteristics with packaging requirements,
selecting those products that do not satisfy the packaging requirements,
discharging the selected products from the sorting apparatus to the discharge conveyor tracks,
supplying the other products from the sorting apparatus to at least one packaging unit for the packaging thereof, the packaging unit being energized only when there is uninterrupted in-feed of the products into the packaging unit
The major advantage of the method according to the invention is that only a single stream of products needs to be taken into account, so that logistics, both in terms of the construction of the apparatus and in terms of the control thereof, can be simplified considerably.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the uninterrupted in-feed of the products into the packaging unit takes place after collection and feed-through of these products with a buffer track.
With this relatively simple intervention, in an adequate manner a highly advantageous supply stream is obtained, which can ensure a continuous stream of products in a suitable manner.
With great advantage, the present invention also provides an apparatus for sorting and packaging products, such as vegetables and fruits, comprising:
a sorting apparatus comprising a main conveyor track for conveying supplied products to a number of discharge conveyor tracks and/or packaging tracks, detection means for determining characteristics of products to be processed, such as, for instance, shape, weight and/or color;
a packaging unit for packaging a substantially uninterrupted product stream; and
a control which is connected to the detection means and which is arranged for comparing the characteristics observed by the detection means with predetermined packaging requirements, on the basis of this comparison selecting products that do not need to be packaged, and supplying the other, non-selected products to a packaging unit, the packaging unit being energized only when there is a substantially uninterrupted in-feed of these products into the packaging unit.
More particularly, the apparatus comprises:
a sorting apparatus, having
a feed roller track for continuously supplying products,
a main conveyor track for conveying the supplied products to discharge conveyor tracks and/or packaging tracks,
detection means for determining characteristics of the products, such as determining their weight or their shape, and
a computer,
having a control unit, for controlling the detection means, and for processing and storing the characteristics of each product, and having a processing unit, for classifying the products on the basis of the characteristics, for selecting the classified products, and for allocating the classified products to the discharge conveyor tracks and/or packaging tracks, while the processing unit, prior to allocation, compares the selected products with packaging requirements, while the products that do not satisfy the packaging requirements are allocated to and are discharged to the discharge conveyor tracks, and the other products are discharged to at least one packaging unit which is energized by the control unit only when there is uninterrupted in-feed of these products into the packaging unit.
In particular, the uninterrupted in-feed of the other products referred to is carried out with a buffer track
In a highly advantageous manner, the buffer track, linking up with the main conveyor track, comprises, in succession, a first flat conveyor track, a roller track, and a second flat conveyor track, while the uninterrupted in-feed is effected from the control unit by controlling and configuring the individual speeds of the tracks.
What can be regarded as a major advantage is that in many cases a single sealing machine can suffice, so that connecting several discharge conveyor tracks to as many sealing machines is no longer necessary.